Casket table for hearses



Aug. 29, 1939. E. SCHOFIELD 2,171,071

CASKET TAB'LE FOR HEARSES Filed Oct. 23, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 29,1939. EL L. SCHOFIELD CASKET TA)BLE FOR HEARSES Filed Oct. 23 1936 2Sheets-Sheet 2 I AL-MJW Patented Aug. 29, 1939 UNITED STTS PATENT OFFICECASKET TABLE FOR HEARS ES ration of Delaware Application October 23,1936, Serial N0. 107,259

3 Claims.

This invention relates to hearses, and is particularly concerned with animproved casket table therefor.

The principal object of my invention consists in the provision ofprotective hand grips on the corners of the table designed with a handwell affording a firm grip for the hand from any angle, and at the sametime protection for the fingers against extension below the table so asnot to scuff on the floor or get pinched between the fioor and table. Animportant feature in this connection is the incorporating of each ofthese hand grips in one-piece L-shaped heavy corner plates with onebranch forming a support for an end roller and the other branchproviding the handle, and incidentally also a mountingv for a sideguiding bier pin in a certain spaced relation to the end roller. Thesecorner plates also afford good reenforcement for the table.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 is a plan View of my improved casket table;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of one of the corner p ates, on a larger scale,showing the improved end roller and corner handle with the bier pinremoved to disclose its mounting;

Fig. 3 is a side view of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the line l-d of Fig. 3 lookingupwardly;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section on the broken line 55 of Fig. 2, on asomewhat enlarged scale, with an intermediate portion of the roller andcorner plate broken away to permit showing the construction on thisscale;

Fig. 6 is a cross-section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 2, on the same scaleas Fig. 5;

Fig. '7 is a longitudinal section through one of the intermediaterollers taken on the line 'l'l of Fig. 1, with an intermediate portionof the roller broken away to permit showing the construction on thisscale, and

Fig. 8 is a cross-section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding partsthroughout the views.

Referring to Fig. 1, the casket table 9 is intended for use in a sidedelivery hearse in which the table moves forwardly and to either sidefor loading and unloading, and is also usually movable rearwardly fromthe hearse for the same purpose, such hearses being known as the three-Way service type. In loading and unloading, pins II] in the side platesll serve mainly as guides, and when the casket has been placed on thetable approximately centrally, other bier pins iii are entered in theproper holes in plates l2 at opposite ends of the table to serve asstays and prevent objectionable movement of the casket. In accordancewith another application Serial No. 241,501, filed November 21, 1938,the twelve rollers l3 mounted on the table in pairs in lon gitudinallyspaced relation are all of rubber of medium softness, and these supportthe casket for smooth and silent movement onto and off the table, therumbling noise which otherwise accompanied the movement of the casketover the old style metal rollers being thereby eliminated. Furthermore,due to the yieldloi the rubber, the casket in rolling thereon isprevented from slipping sideways. The yield of the rubber also is animportant factor in anchoring the casket on the table; whereas itwasnecessary to have at least four bier pins in contact with the casket,two at opposite ends and the other two on opposite sides, two pins, oneat each end, to prevent endwise movement, are adequate with the presentinvention. As stated before, the pins iii in side plates i l servemainly as guides when load ing and unloading the casket; there is noneed to have them contact the sides of the casket, inasmuch as therubber rollers l3 will not permit side slipping. The rollers l3, as willfurther appear later, are all equipped with special softer rubber endthrust bearings M to cushion the side motion of the rollers. Thiseliminates any tendency toward chattering, if there happens to be acertain amount of lateral movement of the casket relative to therollers, in loading and unloading, and by avoiding chattering I also obviate the danger of any squealing noise, which would, of course, beparticularly objectionable in a structure of this kind. Smooth andsilent operation, as well as an increased degree of safety andprotection for the casket, are secured by the use of these rubberrollers 13 in place of metal rollers. The rubber moreover presents awear resisting surface, so that these rubber rollers will preserve agood appearance indefinitely and not soon show signs of service like themetal rollers did.

Skid plates i5 are provided in the space between the rollers l3 forprotection of the table surface. They prevent scraping or gouging of thetable in case the casket is lowered unevenly onto the table, or isremoved carelessly or awk-- wardly. The skids extend up'close to therollers l3 so that the edges of the casket will not be apt to come incontact with the table hardware. The casket will ordinarily be supportedon the rollers entirely, clear of the skids, but of course, when, due tolong service and the effect of age on the rubber, or in cases whereunusually heavy caskets are supported thereon, the rollers have thecasket sink rather deeply in the rubber thereof, especially while thehearse is in motion, the skids !5 will serve positively to limit suchimpression by contact at one or more points with the bottom of thecasket. One or more skid plates will serve a similar purpose when thecasket happens to be lowered unevenly onto the table, placing more thanthe customary amount of weight on one or more of the rubber rollers.

Corner plates I6 form the subject matter of this application and are ofheavy L-shaped construction and fastened securely to the four corners ofthe table and provide on one branch I! of each plate a support for aroller I3 and on the other branch IS a handle l9 and a mounting 20 for aside-guiding bier pin, along with a specially constructed well 2| inconnection with the handle [9. The roller support IT, as clearly appearsin Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 6, mounts the roller in the end of the table withits axle shaft 22 located as close to the edge of the table as possible,so that the roller actually stands out from the end of the table and isbound to be the first to be engaged by the casket in loading and thelast to be engaged in unloading. This is quite an advantage,particularly in the handling of heavy caskets, which, when the rollerswere mounted at .a certain distance from the end of the table,necessitated great care on the part of the pall-bearers in setting theend of the casket down onto the table to be sure it was riding on therollers and not resting directly on the table. With the first rollerslocated at the extreme end of the table, that difiiculty is avoided,because the usable length of the table is proportionately increased tothe extent that the location of the rollers has been advanced to theends of the table.

All of the rollers l3 have the tubular rubber bodies thereof molded andbonded to tubular steel cores 23 by vulcanizing, the cores being brassplated to insure a good bond with the rubber. Bushings 24 entered with apress fit in the opposite ends of the core of each roller receive theaxles 22, so that the rollers turn rather freely on these axles. Theaxles in the case of all of the intermediate rollers of the table aremounted, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, namely, in rectangular plates 25,with some end plates 26 fastened in place with screws 2! from beneathserving to clamp the ends of the axle. The table is recessed, as at 28,to accommodate the plate 25, and recessed still deeper, as at 29, toaccommodate the roller I3. Screws 30 fasten the plate 25 in place andare entered in holes 3| which are filled with rubber plugs 32, which,being black to match the finish of the top of the plate 25, are not atall noticeable.

The end rollers on the corner plates 16 are mounted, as illustrated inFigs. 2, 5 and 6. A well 33 is formed in the corner plate itself toaccommodate the roller, and at opposite ends of this well are alignedholes 34 and 35 into which the axle 22 is entered from the end of thebranch I! and, of course, through the roller. Then set screws 36 enteredin tapped holes 3'! from beneath the corner plate are tightened andserve to anchor the axle.

The end thrust bearings l4, previously mentioned, are of molded spongerubber and are in the form of washers, as indicated in Figs. 5 and 7,assembled on the axles 22 at opposite ends of the rollers. Each of thesesoft rubber washers is protected and backed up by a metal washer 38.

The handles H! are formed mainly by a rib 39 cast integral with the restof the corner plate, which is a die casting. Recesses All formed in thebottom of the rib 39 accommodate lugs 4| molded integral with a grip 42which is of Bakelite or other suitable composition material, made to fitsnugly on the exterior of the rib 39. Screws 43 entered through the lugsM, from beneath, and threaded in holes in the rib 39, hold the grip 42in place. A wall 44 also cast integral with each corner plate is spacedfrom the rib 39 to define the hand well 2| therebetween, and this wallhas an outwardly curved skirt portion 45 which, as shown in Fig. 5,forms a sort of baffle to deflect the ends of the fingers when thehandle i9 is being grasped, and prevents one from getting the fingersunder the table where they would be apt to be pinched if the table weremoved relative to the floor of the hearse. In other words, this curvedapron 65 forms a shield for the fingers, so that one will not get thefingers scuffed or pinched through careless holding of the handle. Theapron 35 predetermines how the fingers must lie with respect to thehandle, and it eliminates the danger of injury. It is clear in Figs. 1to 3 that the baflie apron 45 is curved at one end through approximately90 to follow the curvature of the handle 19 which has approximately 90curvature at the end to form a rounded corner on the table and permitgrasping the handle from the side or end of the table with substantiallyequal facility.

In conclusion, it should be evident that the corner plates It, inaddition to providing roller mountings, handles and bier pin supports,also afford good reenforcement for the table.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding ofthe objects and advantages of my invention. While I have shown therubber rollers i3 on a table 9, it should be understood that I mayprovide such rollers on the floor of an ordinary rear loading hearse toequal advantage. The appended claims have, therefore, been drawn with aview to covering this and other legitimate modifications and adaptationsof the invention.

I claim:

1. In a casket table for a hearse adapted to be moved by hand to and froover and in closely spaced relation to the floor of the hearse, ahorizontally disposed handle plate adapted to be secured to thehorizontal edge portion of the table, said plate being formed to providea body portion and an integral Web portion disposed in spaced relationto the body portion but connected thereto at its ends, said web portionproviding a hand grip adapted to be grasped from above when insubstantially horizontal position on a casket table on a hearse, thebody portion being formed to provide a substantially vertical wallinwardly spaced relative to the web portion sufficient to admit thefingers of a human hand grasping the hand grip in the manner stated, thelower portion of said wall being formed to provide an outwardly slopingsurface, all portions of which are substantially in the same spacedrelation to the hand grip as the vertical portion of said wall so as tocause the operators fingers in grasping the hand grip to bend to enclosethe same, the lower portion of said wall being extended outwardly farenough in the direction of the hand grip to prevent extension of fingersstraight downwardly behind the hand grip and projection thereof belowthe table, substantially as described. V

2. In a casket table for a hearse, a combination handle plate and casketroller support adapted to be secured to a corner of said table, saidplate being formed L-shaped to provide a handle portion on one branchand a casket roller support on the other branch in substantially rightangle relation to the handle portion, the handle portion of said platebeing formed to provide a body portion and an integral web portiondisposed in spaced relation to the body portion but connected thereto atits ends, said web portion providing a hand grip adapted to be graspedfrom above when in substantially horizontal position on a casket tableon a hearse, the body portion being formed to provide a substantiallyvertical wall inwardly spaced relative to the Web portion sufiicient toadmit the fingers of a human hand grasping the hand gripin the mannerstated, the lower portion of said wall being formed to provide anoutwardly sloping surface, all portions of which are substantially inthe same spaced relation to the hand grip as the vertical portion ofsaid wall, the handle portion of said plate extending longitudinallyrelative to the table along the side thereof to the end, and the otherportion of said plate extending along the end of the table so as to beadapted to support a casket roller, and an elongated casket rollerdisposed crosswise on the end of the table and supported on the lastnamed portion of said plate.

viding an attaching portion adapted to be secured to the horizontal edgeportion of the table at the corner thereof and an elongated hand gripportion rigid therewith at its ends and disposed in spaced relation tosaid attaching portion to permit the operator grasping the same with thehand from above the table for movement of the table to and fro over andin closely spaced relation to the floor of the hearse, the hand griphaving a straight portion substantially parallel to the edge of thetable and an approximately arou ate end portion for the corner of thetable, the attaching portion being formed to provide a substantiallyvertical wall spaced inwardly relative to the hand grip so as to admitthe fingers of the operators hand therebetween in grasping the hand gripin the manner stated, the lower portion of said wall being formed toprovide an outwardly sloping outer surface all portions of which aresubstantially in the same spaced relation to the hand grip as thevertical portion of said wall so as to cause the operators fingers ingrasping the hand grip to bend to enclose the same, the lower portion ofsaid Wall being extended outwardly far enough in the direction of thehand grip to prevent extension of fingers straight downwardly behind thehand grip and projection thereof below the table, substantially asdescribed, said attaching portion having a straight portion parallel tothe straight portion of the handle and an approximately 90 arcuate endportion for the corner of the table in inwardly spaced relation to thearcuate end portion of the hand grip.

EARL L. SCHOFIELD.

